1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cups. More particularly, the present invention relates to infant cup assemblies.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cups designed especially for use by infants or children are known. Such cups are intended to facilitate the gripping of the cup by the infant. Contemporary devices often employ gripping structures that are formed on the surface of the bottle.
A baby bottle with an outer surface that has been adapted to provide handles intended to allow infants and children to better grip the bottle, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,203 to Malcolm. The bottle has at least two sets of handles that are formed integrally with the bottle by a plurality of recesses extending vertically along a substantial length of the bottle. The recesses have either side walls that converge towards each other as they extend towards a central longitudinal axis of the bottle or side walls that are parallel to each other. The lobe shaped handles resulting from the converging side walls and the rectangular shaped handles resulting from the parallel side walls, allow an infant or child to partially grasp or hold the handles. The bottles provide limited assistance to infants or children because they do not allow for a complete or nearly complete closure of the infants hands around the handles.
Other cups designed especially for use by infants or children include orifices that are intended to reduce spillage of fluid from the cup. Such cups have drinking orifices and separate air vents, which allow the user to drink from the orifice without creating excessive vacuum in the cup. However, drinking orifices and air vents are liable to leak liquid stored in the cup between feedings, or if dropped during use. Drinking orifices and the surrounding lid structure through which the orifices are disposed, have a lasting effect on the child's lip placement which can impact the child's ability to feed and swallow.
Certain cups have been developed that use valving mechanisms at the orifice and at the air vent. These valves respond to suction generated during feeding to open and allow liquid to pass through the orifice and to allow air to enter the air vent when a vacuum is developed in the interior of the cup. Patents disclosing such valves include U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,013 to Belanger, U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,415 to Manganiello, U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,445 to Manganiello and U.S. Pat. No. RE 37,016 to Morano, which are commonly assigned or licensed to the assignee of the present application. Applicant hereby incorporates the disclosure of these patents by reference.
Accordingly, there is a need for cups having handles, which facilitate gripping and grasping by infants, and motivate infants to use such handles. There is also a need for handles on cups having sufficient strength to withstand use by children. There is a further need for cups having lids and orifices that facilitate use by children, including promoting proper lip closure around the orifice.